Baicells, a Chinese firm founded by Huawei alumni, requires scrutiny: US lawmakers

WASHINGTON – Baicells, a Chinese maker of telecommunication hardware founded by veterans of sanctioned Huawei Technologies that has equipment operating in every American state, needs rigorous scrutiny by the US government, the top Republican on the House Select Committee on China said.

“The presence of this company – or any company with known cyber vulnerabilities in their products – anywhere in the US should raise significant national security alarms,” John Moolenaar said in a statement.

“The Chinese Communist Party is relentlessly pursuing efforts to export its oppressive surveillance state, and companies like Baicells, despite their claims of security, must be scrutinised rigorously.”

Sun Lixin, the Beijing-based chairman of Baicells Technologies, said in a statement that even the largest software, hardware and mobile phone makers would never issue a statement claiming their products “have no security vulnerabilities.”

“That’s precisely why all commercial companies keep releasing updates to ensure that they can keep up with the fixing of discovered vulnerabilities,” he added.

Baicells previously said in a statement that it does not believe its base stations present security risks and that it is willing to cooperate with any US inquiry.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement that “Beijing hopes the US will respect the principles of market [economics] and fair competition, stop unreasonably suppressing companies from other countries, and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for companies from all countries to invest and operate in the United States.”